The present disclosure relates generally to information handling systems, and more particularly to security for ports on an information handling system.
As the value and use of information continues to increase, individuals and businesses seek additional ways to process and store information. One option is an information handling system (IHS). An IHS generally processes, compiles, stores, and/or communicates information or data for business, personal, or other purposes. Because technology and information handling needs and requirements may vary between different applications, IHSs may also vary regarding what information is handled, how the information is handled, how much information is processed, stored, or communicated, and how quickly and efficiently the information may be processed, stored, or communicated. The variations in IHSs allow for IHSs to be general or configured for a specific user or specific use such as financial transaction processing, airline reservations, enterprise data storage, or global communications. In addition, IHSs may include a variety of hardware and software components that may be configured to process, store, and communicate information and may include one or more computer systems, data storage systems, and networking systems.
For IHSs that are shared by numerous users or used by businesses, system administrators may have the desire to restrict the usage of input/output (I/O) ports (e.g., USB ports) on the IHS in order to limit problems such as data loss, copying of sensitive data to external devices, or booting from external devices. However, some devices (e.g., keyboards, mouses, and/or other input devices) may be desirable on such I/O ports, whereas other devices (e.g., flash drives, hard drives, and other storage media) may be undesirable on such I/O ports.
Accordingly, it would be desirable to provide security for ports on an IHS.